OXYTHERM - GMR STRUMENTI

The Oxytherm oxygen electrode control unit is designed to provide PC control of oxygen uptake or evolution  measurements across a broad range of applications from studies of mitochondrial and cellular respiration to measurements of isolated chloroplast suspensions in photosynthesis research.

Oxytherm operates in conjunction with user-friendly O₂view data acquisition and system configuration software to provide an effective tool for the measurement of oxygen signals from the S1/MINI Clark type electrode disc with quick and easy system calibration and configuration.

Oxytherm is supplied with a sophisticated temperature controlled oxygen electrode chamber consisting of a fan assisted Peltier Element with a large surface area and thermally insulated reaction vessel in order to achieve rapid  equilibration and maintenance of any user-selected temperature within the range 3-40°C (assumes ambient temperature of 20°C). This provides freedom to site the unit away from the traditional laboratory setting and ensures that temperature related artefacts are minimised during measurement.

The Oxytherm oxygen electrode control unit comprises a robust yet lightweight enclosure containing the integrated electronics and magnetic stirrer. The electrode chamber consists of a similarly constructed enclosure containing the 10mm precision bore borosilicate glass reaction vessel which is well insulated in order to minimise heat loss through the casing and also provides the capability to perform both light and dark reaction measurements.

An optical port is situated on the side of the casing to suit FMS 1 and FMS 2 chlorophyll fluorometer fibre-optic cables allowing simultaneous measurement of chlorophyll fluorescence from photosynthetically active samples.

There is also a viewing port in the front of the electrode unit with an illuminating white LED controlled by a push button on the side of the unit. Both control box and the electrode unit are powered from a single external 12V DC power supply.

An Oxytherm system may be configured as a single or multi-channel setup in order to make comparative measurements of oxygen from multiple samples. Simultaneous recording of an optional auxiliary input signal (e.g. temperature, pH, fluorescence, TPP+ or other specific ion electrodes etc) is also possible using the OXY/PHA amplifier unit coupled via the auxiliary input on the rear of the Oxytherm oxygen electrode control unit.

A system comprises a minimum of one (maximum of eight) control units linked together in a chain to the serial port of a Windows® PC. Oxytherm control units may be freely interspersed with Oxygraph oxygen electrode control units within a multi-channel system.

The control unit connects to a PC via the serial port and uses bidirectional RS232 communications for instrument control from the PC and data acquisition to the PC. There is no requirement for separate loggers, internal PC interfaces or A/D cards. Laptop or notebook computers are therefore just as suitable as a desktop PC and provide a highly portable, compact system whenever bench space is limited